


in your eyes, a heavy blue

by thedisasternerd



Series: heavy blue [2]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: 5+1 Things, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, BAMF CC-2224 | Cody, Backstory, Both of them, Character Study, Falling In Love, Feels, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, I love my stupid boys, In Vino Veritas, M/M, Obi-Wan Kenobi Needs a Hug, POV Multiple, Possessive CC-2224 | Cody, Post-Order 66, Pre-Order 66, Protective CC-2224 | Cody, Protectiveness, Saps, as I've mentioned, character exploration, i'm just saying it covers all time periods okay, injuries, medbay yearning, nothing graphic, sass and banter, that bitch is a beefcake and will fight anyone and everyone, they both get injured a stupid amount of times so watch out
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-04
Updated: 2020-05-04
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:28:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24008881
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thedisasternerd/pseuds/thedisasternerd
Summary: But then there weremoments. Those moments when the 501st arrived to save the Ghost Company and he saw Cody - and Cody, with his armour gone, gashes up his side, blacks grey with dust and wet with blood, blaster clutched in his hands, teeth bared in a feral snarl, was once again using his own body as a shield between a critically injured Kenobi and the surrounding droids. He had refused to leave his general, not even to get his own injuries treated. Kix had ended up bandaging him at Kenobi’s bedside.It was in moments like those that Rex saw the Loth-wolf come out, a protector with bloody teeth and wild eyes and a loyal heart.“I am his.” Cody told him, after. “I am his, and he is mine.”His eyes had blazed, a challenge.Rex didn’t answer. Cody was on about three different types of painkillers, but they did nothing to keep the ferocity out of his words.“I am his, and he is mine.” Cody repeated, gaze never leaving Rex's face. “Until death.”---Or, how five different people see Cody, and how Cody sees himself.
Relationships: CC-2224 | Cody & Anakin Skywalker, CC-2224 | Cody & CT-7567 | Rex, CC-2224 | Cody & Jango Fett, CC-2224 | Cody/Obi-Wan Kenobi, Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker
Series: heavy blue [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1725289
Comments: 21
Kudos: 644





	in your eyes, a heavy blue

**Author's Note:**

> HAPPY (or not so, considering last night's episode) STAR WARS DAY Y'ALL :D  
> I like the way this one turned out. We're not given much to go on for Cody, we don't really know much about his personality, his past - so I wanted to explore him as a character.  
> You may want to read the first part of this series, but it's not strictly necessary - although both of these fics share certain elements, they can be read as standalone works.  
> This is unbeta'd, but thanks to my homeboys Nemo and Beowulf for cheering me on.  
> I hope you enjoy reading as much as I enjoyed writing!

> _All these questions they're for real_
> 
> _Like "Who would you live for?"_
> 
> _"Who would you die for?"_
> 
> _And "Would you ever kill?"_

* * *

**JANGO FETT**

There was something in little CC-2224. It was in his eyes. The way he held himself, the way he clutched the blaster with white-knuckled ease. It was something Jango had only seen in the faces of either the most loyal soldiers or in the smiles of the criminally insane.

Little _Kote_ , though, had balanced both of those qualities on a fine knife edge. Jango didn’t see any of that ruthlessness directed at any of the _verd’ika’s_ vod’e, only at the training droids and the punching bags. He was calm all the time, even _kind_ out of training, almost always hanging around with that one CT-7567, Rex, he was fairly sure. From his discussions with Kote, or Cody, as he was more often called by his vod’e, the ad’ika considered Rex to be his _birth_ twin, almost. There had been a _look_ on his face, almost challenging, _daring_ Jango to say something. He had liked that, that questioning loyalty. That Kote was loyal to the death - but only for the people he considered worth it. It showed good judgement, the shrewdness in his gaze betraying his easy smile, the one where he showed all of his teeth.

A Mandalorian. He’d seen the way Kote’s eyes shone whenever they had lessons in mando’a and Mandalorian culture, his hands clenched into fists. Jango was proud. Kote was his pride, his glory, alongside Boba and all the others. He had been raised well.

He suspected he knew why Kote was like this. He remembered the Kaminoans telling him that CC-2223 - Snipper was his name - had fallen off the edge of the facility. Kote had been there, hadn’t been the same since the event, eyes filled with loss and guilt that slowly became a possessive need to _protect._

Sometimes Jango noticed him with the other CCs, Rex trailing behind him. He was surprised that Kote wasn’t the odd one out, instead mingling fluidly with them. He’d ended up in the company with the sly, razor-edged CC-1010, eventually named Fox, with CC-3636, Wolffe, who was, in comparison, somewhat soft around the edges. A few more had joined that little group soon after, a couple of CTs and CC-5052, who was later named Bly. Initially, Jango had thought that Kote had _chosen_ this group and was always on alert, but then he realised that with them, Kote felt _at ease_ like he never was anywhere else. It was with Rex that Kote smiled, but it was when he was in a - _pack_ that he felt safe.

Like a wolf. Jango had seen Loth-wolves in the wild, standing in the blizzards, watching him. They were perfectly fine alone, picking a way through the snow for themselves, but it was in packs that they were their true selves. They protected each other to the last, throwing themselves at danger with blazing eyes and fierce snarls, bloody teeth and matted fur, fighting for each other, until death did them part.

But Jango knew that they would all have to be split up. Their personalities were all suited to different Jedi. A few of the CTs might end up with the CCs in that group, but all the CCs were destined for their soon-to-be-chosen Jedi. Jango already had a fairly good idea who was going with who.

He had compiled a list of all the Jedi most likely to be commissioned as generals, had done some research on them. In a particularly memorable stunt, he’d even managed to get into bed with one of them, who knew _exactly_ who he was but hadn’t bothered to bring him to ‘justice’ or whatever, too wound up, too young, too heavily burdened. Jango felt somewhat bad about it, lying with someone who had lost so much, so recently, those ridiculous blue eyes cloudy with _something_. They had parted ways soon after - well, he’d left, not wanting anything more to do with the being he’d left with bruises all over his torso. However, the incident had given him a precious insight into the minds of the Jedi.

But no matter.

There was a notable episode with Kote, when one of the _other_ CCs, one that Jango knew would end up getting sent to reconditioning, had tried to mess with Rex. He saw the way Kote had stiffened, barring the CC from his _vod_ , expression dangerously calm. When the CC had tried to persist, Kote had dispatched him in a brutally efficient way, with a single blow and a flash of his teeth, bared in a snarl. 

In reverse, there had been an episode with Bricker, a stocky CT, who had managed to corner Kote and slam him to the floor. Rex had come to his vod’s rescue, pulling Bricker off of his unconscious body and knocking the other CT out, before carrying Kote, who was bleeding heavily from the side of his face, over to the Medbay.

By the time Jedi Kenobi arrived, dripping wet and utterly confused, almost _helpless_ without his padawan but much older and more competent than the last time Jango had seen him, Jango knew exactly who those two - Rex and Kote - would be assigned to.

A week before Kenobi’s arrival, Jango called Kote in for a talk. The _verd_ walked in briskly, eyes hard, before dropping into a perfect parade rest.

“At ease, Kote.” Jango told him, watching Kote relax - but only fractionally. “I wanted to discuss some things with you, _ad._ ”

He didn’t miss the way a complicated expression flickered across Kote’s face. He knew that the _verde_ called him _buir_ behind his back, especially the older ones that he’d raised almost personally. Kote was one of them.

“Yes, buir.” Kote sat down, neat, a good little soldier, while Jango felt like the air had been punched out of him.

Out of all of them, only Kote had the courage, the judgement to say that. Jango’s heart swelled.

The room was silent, save for the quiet sounds of Boba playing with his toy ships in the background. 

“ _Ad_.” Jango managed. Kote watched him, eyes wide and full of something he couldn’t place. “I believe that the time is soon.”

Kote didn’t blink, just nodded, once.

“I think that it would be best if you were assigned to Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi.” He picked up a thick wad of flimsis and a holopad, and handed them over to Kote.

Kote all but hugged them to his chest, but took the top file and stared at it. It was Kenobi’s profile, complete with a full-colour holo, the one that had taken over the holonet a year ago - Kenobi mid-twirl, tunics swirling around him, lightsaber casting sharp contrasts over his face. As Jango watched, something like _wonder_ crossed Kote’s face, and he brushed a finger over the picture before jerking his hand away like he’d been burned.

“Is he a good man? A good leader?” Kote asked, frowning slightly. The tension was back in his posture.

“Yes.” Jango said. Kote relaxed, fractionally. “Yes, he is.”

“Then I will serve him with honour.” Kote’s chin jerked up, eyes burning into Jango’s as he stood up and saluted.

Jango watched him leave. He never saw him again.

* * *

**REX**

Rex first noticed it when they were very young.

He was the only CT in a crowd of CCs. Buir was nowhere to be seen, but they had all arrived exactly on time, like he’d - personally - asked them to. There were ten of them in total, and Rex knew most of them only by rumours. There was Wolffe, quiet. Beside him was Fox, who tended to be insulting and spiky - Rex had run into him, once, and regretted it. Then there was Ponds, so named because he’d fallen into a massive puddle and had ended up being dragged through several corridors to Medbay, soaking wet and humiliated. At the edge of the crowd, standing awkwardly between Wolffe and Ponds, was Bly. The other CCs he didn’t really know, except for Kote, or _Cody_ , who was in a loose parody of a parade rest next to Rex. 

Cody was maybe the most renowned of all of them. He was buir’s favourite and for good reason - Rex had seen him in the training rooms. He had the best scores out of all of them, spending most of his free time there rather than with his vod’e. Rex wasn’t sure what to make of him beyond that. 

His expression was neutral - but there was something in his eyes, some sort of yearning, a loneliness of some kind. 

“You’re Cody, right?” Rex blurted before he could push the words back down his throat.

“ _Elek_.” Cody blinked at him, looking surprised. “Yeah. And you’re Rex?”

Rex nodded, trying not to look too enthusiastic. He had so many questions that he wanted to ask, but couldn't. Cody’s eyes seemed to soften and he turned fully. A hint of a smile made his lips twitch and Rex grinned hesitantly back, not quite knowing why.

 _Even the lone wolf can smile._ He thought, distantly. After all, _buir_ called Cody _his little Loth-wolf_ , so there must be some truth to those words.

And there it was, the realisation. He was standing next to someone who could be part of a pack but was, for the most part, his own person, a lone wolf until he found someone to protect.

The realisation was backed up by the incident with Seven-Ten, another CC. Rex had accidentally knocked into him, and Seven-Ten _really_ hadn’t liked it, so from then on, he had been Seven-Ten’s target practice. Well, at least until Cody got involved.

Seven-Ten had come out of that with a busted jaw, Cody with bruised knuckles and a grin that was all teeth - more of a snarl, really. The incident was properly what cemented their friendship completely, showed Rex what Cody could and would do for him. Cody had chosen _him_ \- well, maybe chosen was the wrong word, but the premise was the same.

Then, Rex saw the same thing with Kenobi. 

A week before they were officially deployed, Cody came back with a stack of files that buir had given him. 

“He’s gonna be my general.” Cody had told them, that night when they were all sitting on the floor of their dorm. He was all but clutching the files to his chest - all except one, which he showed them. It was Kenobi’s profile, with that particularly stunning holo of him in action. “Buir says he's a good man.”

“Certainly _good looking_.” Fox leered, hanging off the top bunk. 

“Back off.” Cody grinned, one of his rare ones - bright and true and amused. 

“Oh, you _agree_ with me, this is a new one.”

Cody flipped him off, still smiling. It made his scar crinkle, eyes dancing. He stared right at Rex and made a face at him. Rex signed _on your left_ just as Wolffe flung himself down next to him.

“Kenobi, is it?” Wolffe squinted at the flimsi. Cody clutched it a little tighter and he whistled. “Have you heard the stories?”

Cody shook his head mutely. 

“Damn.” Ponds smirked at him. “You’re really missing out.”

Ponds, Wolffe and Fox managed to spin vague, conflicting accounts of Kenobi’s exploits. The only things they agreed on were a) that Kenobi was hot (that was mostly Fox, truth be told) b) Kenobi would be an _amazing_ general and c) that he and Cody would get along _very well_.

Cody had listened to all of them, expression dubious, but Rex didn’t miss the way his gaze constantly strayed to the flimsi in Wolffe’s hands, eyes darkening progressively over the next hour, until he finally managed to steal it back - from Fox, who’d started going on about something that made Rex’s eyes cross in a mixture of disgust and amusement.

“Possessive, much?” Fox laughed. Cody just glared.

 _There it was_.

Then, Kenobi swept into their lives with the force of a Kaminoan hurricane, albeit much more gracefully, all tight-lipped smiles and shuttered eyes.

Rex was there when Cody first met him. It wasn’t on Geonosis, but Cody had rewatched the holos of the way his future general had fought in the arena over and over, eyes glazed over.

“Keep watching those and you’ll fall in love.” Rex teased. Cody grumbled something unintelligible and didn’t answer, shifting awkwardly from foot to foot while they waited for Kenobi to finish his talk with a tall Jedi - Anakin Skywalker, Rex’s general.

“Commander CC-2224 reporting for duty, sir!” Were the first words Cody had spoken, when Kenobi had finally approached them. He’d snapped to attention, sharp and crisp, but Rex heard the hint of _challenge_ in his voice.

“Commander, captain. At ease.” Kenobi smiled, nodding at them, one hand tucked into his robes, the other brushing his hair back. It was ridiculously _ginger_ \- Rex was still not used to natborns and the karking _variation_ and _differences_ they all had - and long enough to be a little floppy. Rex found it somewhat funny. A year later, in 79’s, Cody slurred out that he’d really wanted to touch it. “If you don’t mind me asking, I’m aware that you have names?”

He continued to smile, easy, but Rex was used to reading masks. Cody had given him a lot of practice, so he saw the concern, the unease - not _because of_ them, but _for_ them - in Kenobi’s eyes.

Beside him, Cody relaxed a little. Kenobi had obviously passed whatever test that had been - Rex, too, figured that if Kenobi had asked for their names, he couldn’t be all that bad.

“Er, yes sir.” Rex answered. “I’m Rex.”

“Cody.” His vod sounded almost _embarrassed_. Rex was glad that his bucket hid his smile.

“Well then, commander Cody, captain Rex.” Kenobi, too, relaxed a little. _Highly empathetic_ , Rex remembered vaguely. Little did he know just how true that would turn out to be. “Commander, I’m Obi-Wan Kenobi, the general of this battalion. You are my second-in-command. Captain Rex, I believe you’ve been assigned to the 501st?”

“Yes sir.” Rex marveled that Kenobi _knew_. But then again, he shouldn’t be surprised.

“It seems that Anakin is waiting for you.” There was that smile again, the one that would make Cody melt in due course. “Of course, you can stay, it would be a good lesson in _patience_ for him, something which he rather lacks…”

Rex _didn't_ snort. Kenobi smirked, amusement with just a hint of mischief sparkling in his eyes. Beside them, Rex heard Cody make a _tiny_ noise - oh that sure was _interesting_.

Cody commed him later that day, when Rex was already preparing to bunk down. 

“He’s a good man.” Cody’s voice crackled a little and Rex bit back the _I know_ \- his own general had been practically waxing poetic about Obi-Wan Kenobi, his old master. “One of the best. I will serve him without question.”

(And there it was.)

A year later, in 79’s, they managed to get Cody drunk. As in, telling everyone _everything_ drunk. Fox had the time of his life and Rex was unspeakably glad that Painless wasn’t there. Cody, meanwhile, was spilling his guts and pouring them bucketfuls of his melted heart.

“His hair’snice.” Cody was staring into the bottom of his glass, eyes unspeakably sad. Rex patted his back. “Wanna. Wanna put m’hands in it. It’ssoft. He got ‘njured and I had to carry ‘im. Wanna do it again, but when he‘snot injured. ‘Snot good wh’n ‘e’s injured. But it felt right, carryin’ ‘im.”

Fox had both of his hands over his mouth and sounded a lot like he was trying not to coo. Or maybe he was just excited by the prospect of _more blackmail material_. Bly, meanwhile, was wiping at his eyes.

“He’sssokind.” Cody tipped back the dregs of his swill and set the glass down with a thunk. “Y’know, he smiles ev’nwhen he can’t cause it calms th’shinies down. He smiles like ‘e wantsto cry all th’time. And. Just wanna _hold him_. Wanna have ‘im, hold him, protect him. If I could, I’d give ‘im the galaxy, but I can’t. So ‘m gonna give him all I have, ‘nstead. ‘M gonna kill anyone who takes ‘im away, kill anyone hurts ‘im.”

“I’m so proud of him.” Fox whispered. Rex kicked him.

Meanwhile, Cody groaned, burying his face in his arms.

“He’s too prettyyyy.” His voice was muffled and oh dear, here it came. “Y’know ‘izhair does the weird.” His hand comes up and flaps vaguely. “Floppy thing over his eyes. ‘Fter a battle. It’s.”

The moan he let out after that was pornographic enough for even _Fox_ to blush.

“Okay, vod, you’ve had a little too much.” Rex hauled him to his feet. Cody tried to swat him away but although his aim was still dead-on, it was like his entire body was playing in slow-motion, so Rex managed to remove his face from the area of whacking. “Come on.”

Cody grumbles but doesn’t resist, after that. However, he didn’t let up the vague stream of nonsensical fantasies and descriptions of Kenobi that Rex really, _really_ didn’t want to know about.

If anything, it got _worse_ when the two idiots got together. Kenobi didn’t stop smiling for a week, gazing dopily at Cody, and _gods_ he was almost as bad as Skywalker. _Almost_ . Cody, too, had a small, clandestine smirk playing around his lips for the better part of a _month_ \- Boil jovially informed Rex that the shinies were scared shitless for the entire time because they thought someone had replaced him. Cody’s whole super-protective thing also got worse: on and off the battlefield, he would always be on alert, scouting the area, body angled just enough for him to be a shield between Kenobi and whatever possible danger could come to the Jedi.

It was laughable, sometimes, that Cody, a scarily competent soldier, was trying to defend Kenobi, who was even _more_ scarily competent in battle - but too kind, too willing to sacrifice himself, so what Cody _should_ have been protecting Kenobi against was himself. It took Rex some time to realise that Cody had been doing that for a long time already: herding his Jedi (now _that_ had been a thought. _Cody’s_ Jedi. In all senses.) to sleep, feeding him when he forgot to do that himself, and on a memorable occasion actually carrying him to bed when Kenobi fell asleep in the mess - Painless, the 212’s senior medic, was a terrible gossip and had told Rex that last one.

But then there were _moments_. Those moments when the 501st arrived to save the Ghost Company and he saw Cody - and Cody, with his armour gone, gashes up his side, blacks grey with dust and wet with blood, blaster clutched in his hands, teeth bared in a feral snarl, was once again using his own body as a shield between a critically injured Kenobi and the surrounding droids. He had refused to leave his general, not even to get his own injuries treated. Kix had ended up bandaging him at Kenobi’s bedside.

It was in moments like those that Rex saw the Loth-wolf come out, a protector with bloody teeth and wild eyes and a loyal heart.

“I am his.” Cody told him, after. “I am his, and he is mine.”

His eyes had blazed, a challenge. 

Rex didn’t answer. Cody was on about three different types of painkillers, but they did nothing to keep the ferocity out of his words.

“I am his, and he is mine.” Cody repeated, gaze never leaving Rex's face. “Until death.”

His head swung round, back to Kenobi, lying limp in the cot, his slightly smaller hand clenched between Cody’s large, rough ones. Quite the picture.

Rex’s whisper was quiet enough for Cody not to respond.

“I know.”

Years later, when they last saw each other, standing in the sand of Tatooine, Cody’s hair was streaked with white but his eyes were still the same. He looked at his brother one last time, his brother with sparking eyes and teeth glinting in the harsh sunlight. At Obi-Wan, steady and sure, fingers curled around Cody’s wrist, his face tanned and freckled, weathered by life, hair no longer that ridiculous ginger that it had been when they’d first met, but a temperate gold. His eyes, too, had lost their mischievous shine, now showing only calm wisdom and gentle affection.

“Until death.” Cody had one hand on Rex’s shoulder and the other fisting Obi-Wan’s robes. Obi-Wan, standing quiet and resolute next to his lover, his husband, just smiled a small, lopsided smile, his eyes constantly flicking between Rex and Cody.

Rex saluted, smiling sadly.

“I know.”

And Cody gave him that fierce grin one last time.

* * *

**ANAKIN SKYWALKER**

Anakin liked commander Cody.

His first impression of him had been of a highly competent soldier with desert-dry humour. In other words, he suited Obi-Wan perfectly well - that was something he regretted later, when the two of them would tease him relentlessly.

This impression persisted for maybe a few months. It was Padmé who enlightened him, really, standing beside him in the Medbay of the _Negotiator._

"That commander." She nodded at Cody, asleep by Obi-Wan's bedside, a bandage wrapped around his head. Obi-Wan was out cold, skin the same colour as the sheets. "He's infatuated with Obi-Wan, isn't he?"

Anakin frowned, momentarily confused. Cody rarely showed emotion, and only sometimes would a little thing like a smirk or a small smile be seen on his face. From what Obi-Wan had told him, the commander had "very expressive eyes", which should’ve been the first warning bell. But Obi-Wan was empathetic to a fault, so he hadn't really been too bothered about Cody's lack of outward emotion beyond sarcasm and passive-aggressive anger. He did, however, know that Cody was possibly an even bigger mother-hen than Rex, a fairly impressive achievement.

But all those _smiles_ , dripping affection and fondness to an extent that even Anakin had noticed - they were directed at his old master.

 _Oh_.

Padmé rolled her eyes at him.

"Took you long enough."

"But he's all, lone-wolf-y!" Anakin hissed. The two opposite them may have been asleep, but Cody always seemed to know things he shouldn't, something he must've picked up from Obi-Wan. “Besides, Obi-Wan is a Jedi, and an _exemplary_ one too!”

Padmé gave him a _look_.

“Right, Satine.” Anakin grumbled, folding his arms. “But-”

“He is more than you give him credit for, Ani.” Padmé murmured. “Both of them.”

With that, she floated out of the room, leaving Anakin to scramble after her.

But he couldn’t stop thinking about it, looking for it, that _spark,_ the same one that he saw in Padmé’s eyes when she looked at him. He looked for it, and he found it, every time Cody looked at Obi-Wan with his helmet off. That slight softness, that tiny glint. But it was ever so slightly different, with Cody - that softness had a core of the toughest durasteel. Anakin understood it too well, knew what it was only too intimately; it was the need to _protect_ at all costs. 

Maybe a week later, he managed to corner Painless - notorious gossip, but slippery and probably the embodiment of the 212, somehow. Knowing that pretty much nothing in terms of interrogation worked on him, Anakin made the decision to go straight for _threatening bodily harm_. His plans always worked, after all, unlike what Obi-Wan told him.

“Commander Cody and Obi-Wan.” Anakin barked, glaring at the green-haired medic. Painless didn’t even blink, just raised one eyebrow and stared pointedly at the lightsaber in Anakin’s hand. Anakin gripped it tighter, scowling. “Spill.”

Painless continued glaring at the lightsaber. 

Anakin growled a little, for effect, which made absolutely no difference.

“General Skywalker, _sir_.” Anakin had absolutely no idea how someone could imbue _so much_ insubordination into three words, but Painless managed it. It filled him with awe and a newfound respect for the man in front of him. “With _respect_ , I am capable of separating commander Cody and general Kenobi from each other whenever one of them has been injured.”

“Is that supposed to be impressive?”

It probably was. If the two of them were anything like him and Padmé, then, well.

Painless smirked and stepped around Anakin, saluting.

“Yes sir.” He saluted crisply and marched away.

Okay, maybe Anakin’s plans _didn’t_ always work.

He _did_ find out about the two of them, but in the worst way possible. He and Obi-Wan had come back from a particularly arduous mission, practically stumbling back on board into the waiting embraces of Rex and Cody respectively. While Rex allowed Anakin to use him as a pillow, Cody took one look at Obi-Wan and grabbed him by the sleeve of his robes, hauling him off somewhere with the brisk efficiency of a man on a mission.

Anakin was so busy laughing at Obi-Wan’s indignant squawk and _I’m fine, Cody!_ protests that he almost didn’t notice Rex’s dramatic groan and facepalm.

“Wait here a minute.” Anakin told him gleefully, and jogged after them.

“Sir, don’t!” Rex yelled. “Can’t it wait until tomorrow?”

Anakin waved him off.

“Just don’t come whining to me, after.” He heard Rex mutter.

He found them a few minutes later in some corridor - Cody had Obi-Wan pinned up against the wall and they were kissing -

That was all Anakin saw before he gracefully tripped over his own feet to get away.

“Told you so, sir.” Rex said smugly when he came back, rubbing at his eyes dramatically to hide his smile.

“Shut up.”

From then on, his perception of Cody - and Obi-Wan - changed drastically. All those little oddities - how and where he stood, the way he would tense up just a _tiny_ bit when Anakin said something particularly sharp to Obi-Wan - they suddenly made sense. It was the same with his old master, 

Anakin knew he would never be able to say anything, but Cody really was a good man. Obi-Wan made the right choice, being with him.

He allowed himself a small smile, watching the two of them flirt and tease each other a year before he became someone else. Before Anakin was gone. He allowed himself that smile, and turned to Padmé.

* * *

**PAINLESS**

Painless’ first thought - first word, too - when he had received his assignment to be the 212th’s senior medic was a loud, terrified _kriff_.

It turned out to be just as bad as he’d thought. Kenobi would pull stupid, self-sacrificial shit, the commander would be right there, trying to stop Kenobi from killing himself - by almost getting _himself_ killed instead. Painless didn’t like the ridiculously, _stupidly_ high number of times the two of them ended up in Medbay. Especially the general. 

A positive, though, was that he could call both of them idiots to their faces and the only repercussion would be getting a wan smile out of Kenobi and a half-hearted promise not to do it again that always came with _That Face_ , which he knew the commander called ‘Obi-Wan’s _I’m-a-baby-bantha-so-adorable-please-forgive-me_ face’, which was. Accurate. 

Painless was _definitely_ immune to it. Definitely. Absolutely. Completely. _Immune_.

As for Cody, he tended to agree if _Kenobi_ was the one being called an idiot, but would glare if _he_ was the one being ‘insulted’.

“I’m not an idiot for wanting to protect my general.” He’d snapped, once, crossing his arms with a wince. He was propped up in a cot, several shades too pale but not out of it enough to _not_ glare murderously at Painless. 

Protective bastard. Not just protective, Painless could sometimes see the possessiveness there, too. “ _My”_ was the key word here. Besides, Cody was borderline _obsessed_ with having and protecting the general, his expression always going troubled whenever Kenobi was in danger or pulling his classic _flirting-with-everyone-but-the-object-of-his-affections_ thing, the object of his affections being _Cody_. One of these days, Painless was going to actually team up with Threk - who was lying in the cot next to the commander, pink hair a startling contrast to, well, everything in the room - and lock Cody and Kenobi into a supply cupboard. For a day. And if they didn’t get the hint, he was going to throw himself out of an airlock, because _gods_ he couldn’t take the pining anymore - the fact that Threk’s _idiotic_ plans were beginning to look appealing was enough of a tell.

Threk had suggested a documentary, wait, no, a soap opera, that one time he was lying in Medbay with a busted nose - he’d tried to backflip off a catwalk and ended up smashing his face in. Thank the gods, he’d had his bucket on, but the commander had drolly torn him a new one nonetheless.

 _Medbay yearning_ , Threk had called his grand idea, gesturing expansively. His pet frog, the one that somehow _just wouldn’t kriffing die,_ and was also _unhygienic_ , had chirped from its position in his hair and Threk had grinned dopily at him. Painless had called him an idiot, but it had come out much more fond than he intended.

Anyway. Cody was glaring at him through narrowed eyes.

“Yes you are.” Painless poked Cody with more force than strictly necessary. “You know why you’re just as _stupid_ as he is? By the way, don’t cross your arms, you’ll knock the bones out of place.”

Cody dutifully uncrossed his arms but continued glaring.

“If you die for him.” Painless crossed his arms out of spite and resisted the urge to cackle when Cody’s eyes narrowed even further. A few metres away, there was a young, impressionable and very _shiny-new_ soul watching, so he couldn’t be a bad influence in Threk’s presence. “He’s gonna break. Completely. And you know it.”

Cody huffed.

“Really?”

Painless stared at him. Was he _that stupid_ or just wallowing, now?

“Commander.” He snapped, ignoring the way Threk perked up. “With _respect_ , sir, you are _well aware_ of how the general feels. So kindly take your self-doubt out of the conversation. And don’t die for him, _live_ for him. That is the greatest, not to mention _kindest_ , thing you can do.”

Threk’s frog croaked hoarsely into the stunned silence. Painless twitched. Cody was staring at him with something like - _wonder_ in his eyes, and okay, this was making him uncomfortable. Painless knew that the whole of the 212 loved their general, but he liked to pretend, sometimes, that he was a little more unfeeling, more weathered, so used to seeing death and pain in his Medbay that it didn’t bother him anymore, that he couldn’t form attachments. Which was all absolute _osik_ , he knew. Truth be told, he didn’t _want_ attachments like the one he saw forming between his two commanding officers, but he still _felt_ so _much,_ for his brothers, for his general, for his best friend Threk. But after he’d been threatened with reconditioning, back on Kamino, for being _too kind-_ everything had changed. He’d changed.

“Tell me if anything hurts.” Painless said gruffly and made his way over to Threk.

“Painless!” The commander called, suddenly, and Painless turned around, not looking him in the eye. “ _Painless_.”

He looked up, into the face of his brother. Cody’s eyes were wide, almost eager, but there was something _kindling_ in their depths. Threk had both of his hands over his mouth. 

“I will do my best. But Painless, I can't lose him. If I have to, I won’t hesitate. And you _know_ it.”

“Yes.” Suddenly, Painless couldn’t look at him, look at the icy fire in his eyes, the mercilessness, the _fear_. He and Cody were very, very different in that respect. Cody could and would kill, even if he did it to _protect,_ but Painless - couldn’t. “I know.”

* * *

**OBI-WAN KENOBI**

From the very first time he saw Cody, Obi-Wan knew he was looking at someone loyal, fierce, with strong values and an iron will. It was there, in his Force signature, tendrils of angry red and shrewd blue among the bright, shivering gold. It was comforting that his second-in-command would be someone who would only be truly loyal if Obi-Wan _proved_ himself. Quite the thought.

Within their first interaction, it turned out that Obi-Wan had indeed been deemed a good man. Well, good enough for his stoic, pragmatic but also puritan commander. Perhaps not the best, but he would do.

He’d been slowly, inexorably, proved wrong about that.

The first time, it was when Cody got angry at him, only a few weeks into their service together.

Obi-Wan had gotten injured - it was barely a _scratch_ , really, everyone was always so _dramatic_ \- and was not being let out of Medbay. At that point, it was early enough for Painless to not be easily persuaded, so he was there for _several days_. Bored out of his mind and very much _useless_.

At the end of the first day, once he was more or less not high on painkillers, Cody had all but _stormed_ into Medbay. Painless promptly pushed him out, but had turned to Obi-Wan with the words: “I can’t stop him forever, sir. He’s gonna get you.”

“What for?” Obi-Wan asked, bewildered, heart sinking - if he’d done something to warrant his commander’s rage, it must be truly awful. He didn’t understand what he’d done - or maybe what he hadn’t. After all, there was so much he could’ve been doing but there he was, lying in a cot and taking up valuable resources that should be for the men-

“Try to not get yourself killed next time, general, and if you can do that he won’t yell at you.”

“I didn’t almost get myself killed!” Obi-Wan protested indignantly. “I am _fine_ and certainly ready to be discharged.”

“My company not the best, general?” Painless smirked and Obi-Wan spluttered awkwardly. “Just kidding, sir. But you’ve said that you’re fine, er, _sixteen_ times to me, and who nearly bled out? You.”

Obi-Wan huffed.

"Painless, I assure you, I am fine _now._ "

Painless shook his head mutely and walked over to the other patients in the ward.

Obi-Wan sighed and tried to sit up. It turned out his torso wouldn’t flex, and he didn’t want to distract Painless from his other patients, so he decided against bodily heaving himself up, much as he wanted to.

The second day, Painless _did_ _n’t_ stop Cody from entering the Medbay. Obi-Wan immediately tensed, preparing for accusations, a death toll - anything but what actually happened.

Cody swept into Medbay, in full armour save for his helmet, which he had tucked under his arm. He hadn’t been injured, fortunately, just a few bruises - Obi-Wan had made sure of that.

“Sir.” Cody was - _vibrating_ with rage, and so was his voice. The room fell ominously silent. “Sir. What. _Why_. Did you do that?”

“Do what?” Obi-Wan asked, confused and more than a little nervous. “Commander?”

“Shove me out of the way and get.” Cody heaved in a breath, fingers scraping against the white plastoid of his armour. “And get crushed by a rockfall?”

"I am one with the Force and the Force is with me." He quoted, knowing that he was avoiding the subject. Judging by the brief flash of irritation on Cody’s face the commander knew that too. He tightened his hold on the sheets, fingers knotting the fabric as he contemplated the right way to say what he wanted to say, to prevent the _I can’t lose you_ from spilling out too quickly, too raw and too earnest. "You were going to die, Cody, I couldn't let that happen."

You could have heard a pin drop in the next few seconds that followed. Obi-Wan all but _cringed_ at the look on the commander's face - he was pale with rage but there was also...fear.

Oh.

This was a new one.

"General." Cody started, fingers clenching and unclenching slowly. "General. I'm expendable. You're not. Please don't do it again."

Obi-Wan could feel his ears ringing. How could- how could Cody think he was expendable? _How?_

"Commander Cody." Obi-Wan sat up a little, as much as his protesting muscles would allow, not letting himself wince. The bruising was certainly letting itself be known. “ _Cody_. You are _not_ expendable. _None of you_ , certainly not you. Each and every one of you is unique, and I cannot express how much _pain_ it causes me to see- to _feel_ -” He heaved in a shuddering breath, remembering the first time he’d felt it, on Geonosis, bright lights blinking out one by one. “Your sparks, your Force signatures, going out. I couldn’t, _can’t_ , let that happen to you if I have the power to stop it.”

Cody stared at him. Obi-Wan turned away, closing his eyes against the tears threatening to spill. He had to stay strong, not just for the sake of himself, but for the men around him.

“General.” Cody murmured finally, voice hoarse and the anger somehow gone from him. “General. I. Thank you. But please. We can’t lose you, sir.”

He paused for a few seconds, swallowed audibly, then stuttered out the words: " _I_ can't lose you."

With that, he saluted and hurried out of the room.

Then there was that one time, in the caves, the two of them trapped with almost no hope of one of them getting out alive. 

Obi-Wan didn't remember much, probably because of the blood loss, but he did remember Cody cradling him close, trying to stop the bleeding with his hands, his eyes wide and scared, breathing shallow. 

" _Obi-Wan_ ," He'd whispered, hoarse, voice thick with tears. "Please _don't leave me_."

" _Draar_." Obi-Wan had replied, almost dreamily, watching Cody's face contort with tears. 

Things were pretty hazy after that, save for Cody's voice murmuring _it'll be okay, it'll be okay_ , sometimes in basic, sometimes in mando'a, his hands leaving bloody prints all over Obi-Wan's robes. He dimly remembers the bracelet of his own blood around Cody's wrist from where he'd clutched at his commander. But he remembers the heat of Cody's body against his own, the gentle touches, the way Cody had brushed his hair back, the way he'd finally, _finally_ said Obi-Wan's name, not _general_ or sir.

That was when he realised he was in love with Cody, in the dim, feverish heat. He'd realised it, and never forgotten it since.

But for all that, perhaps the most prominent way that Cody proved his assumption wrong was when the man fell in love with him.

Obi-Wan didn’t understand why, or how, so he had been almost completely oblivious of his commander’s feelings until Cody actually told him, directly, eyes liquid gold in the warm light of the Temple’s gardens, the sun shining across his face, throwing his features into stark contrasts: soft eyes with harsh shadows, his scar in sharp relief. His hair was dark in the centre but the light caught the stray strands at the edges, making them glow, almost like a halo. 

Force, he loved Cody, so much, even though he shouldn’t. But he couldn’t deny it, the sharp pain and sweet pleasure.

“General.” Cody mumbled, eyes wide and skittering constantly, over Obi-Wan’s face, his body, the gardens around them. The man was in civvies, armour left onboard the _Negotiator_ , and Obi-Wan felt his frisson of vulnerability and fear. “Obi-Wan. I wanted to say.”

He coughed, awkward, looking away again, over the gardens. Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow and waited patiently for the man to get his words together. Whatever Cody wanted to say, it was obviously important, so he wasn’t about to interrupt. Truth be told, he had absolutely no idea what his commander wanted to say, but he suspected it was something _personal._ Deeply so.

“Obi-Wan.” He stepped a little closer and placed a hand on Obi-Wan’s cheek. Obi-Wan could feel the callouses, the heat of it, and shivered, goosebumps breaking out over his skin and feeling a blush beginning to form at the tips of his ears. Cody’s eyes were mere inches away from his own, earnest and exposed. “I think that I...I’m in love with you.”

“Oh.” The tiny sound dropped from his lips. His heart skipped a beat then started again, faster, raw staccato against his ribcage. He didn’t know how to react to that. 

Cody spared him, rambling on, which was uncharacteristic of him, his hand slipping off of Obi-Wan’s face. He immediately missed the contact.

“I know that I’m just a clone, that there are others like me, but, you, you’re unique, and I, I wanted you to know that I love you, I think, no, I know that, I’m in love with you.”

“Cody.” Obi-Wan cut him short, the words suddenly spilling out of his heart. “Cody, I’m...I love you too. _Ni kar'tayli gar darasuum_.”

He watched the way Cody’s eyes widen even more, an almost helpless smile breaking out on his face. He laughed, a small, disbelieving sound, eyes never leaving Obi-Wan’s.

“ _Ni kar'tayli gar darasuum, balyc_.” He breathes. “Can I...kiss you?”

“Yes, _elek_.” Obi-Wan couldn’t detect any Force signatures around them, and even if there were, he couldn’t care less. He was slipping into mando’a just to see the way Cody’s pupils widened, black slowly swallowing the amber. “ _Gedet’ye_.”

Cody did, clumsy and inexperienced. His hands fluttered awkwardly, until Obi-Wan took one in his and felt the other settle on his hip, sliding up and down a little. It felt like his entire _body_ was alight, his soul beginning to kindle from an ember into a small but bright and warm flame. 

They parted eventually. Cody knocked their foreheads together, the arm not holding Obi-Wan’s hand sliding around his waist and pulling him closer. Their height difference was just enough for Obi-Wan to have to lean up a little, his face tipped upwards. He wormed his free arm up, slinging it over Cody’s neck, feeling him smile, the curve of his lips brushing his nose.

“You make me soft.” Cody mumbled later, when they were curled up together in Obi-Wan’s rooms, voicing thoughts they’d shoved away for so long, letting the words dissipate into the warm, almost syrupy, darkness. “I don’t understand, you make me want to fight the galaxy in order to save you, have you, protect you - but you make me melt inside.”

Obi-Wan laughed, twisting in Cody’s arms so that their noses brushed.

“Commander Cody, _soft_.” Cody grumbled unintelligible but fond and pleased something under his breath. “But I understand, cyare.”

He knew Cody as a durasteel wall of stubbornness, he knew Cody as a Loth-wolf, as Rex had said once, and now he knew Cody intimately, he knew the Cody under the shell he wore - Cody at his most vulnerable and his most _happy_.

Years later, they were sitting under the massive sky, Tatooine’s three moons low on the horizon. The sky was full of stars, bright this deep in the desert. Beside him, Cody was either half-asleep or in that dazed, relaxed state that Obi-Wan knew so well - after all, he was in it now.

“The stars are beautiful.” Cody murmured, turning his head lazily, eyes shining in the darkness.

Obi-Wan chuckled.

“Don’t say it.”

“Do you know what else is beautiful?” Cody hummed as he leaned closer, resting his head on Obi-Wan’s shoulder but grinning up at him, teeth flashing white.

“The Force.”

Cody snorted.

“No, Obi-Wan, with the way you talk about the Force I’d be worried that you’re cheating on me with it.”

“Never.”

“But what I wanted to say, is that you, you’re beautiful.” Cody whispered, wrapping his arm around Obi-Wan’s waist, his hair tickling Obi-Wan’s chin. “No, don’t do that. Look at me.”

Obi-Wan’s breath still caught in his throat, even now, so many years later. He turned his head back to his lover, his _riduur_.

Cody reached out and placed a hand on Obi-Wan’s cheek, an echo of so long ago. 

“You, your entire being, are beautiful. _Ni kar'tayli gar darasuum_. I love you, Obi-Wan, I love you…”

He chanted it like a mantra under his breath, a prayer between gentle kisses.

“ _Cody_.” Obi-Wan’s voice broke and he couldn’t help the tear that slipped out of his eye. “I love you too.”

* * *

**CODY**

He liked lists. Lists were a good way of compartmentalising everything, sorting everything out, not letting anything show on his face, of maintaining that professional poker face. Obi-Wan had told him - well, the members of the 212th close enough to hear him - about them, once, long ago. 

And Cody didn’t think much about himself, truth be told.

His main concerns were _protecting his brothers, protecting Obi-Wan_.

After - _it_ \- he _did_ have some introspective moments, lying on his back, staring at the ceiling, the thoughts spinning through his head. He made a list, but didn’t get very far:

  1. **He was a hard man. Cold, even, with a durasteel will.**
  2. **He did have weaknesses. Obi-Wan, Rex, his brothers.**
  3. **He remembered Jango calling him a Loth-wolf, once, _his little Loth-wolf._**
  4. **_Not a good soldier-_**
  5. **He had been, sometimes, a lover**
  6. **He would kill, he would die, for the people he loved. But he would also _live for them_**



He remembered Snipper, the way his _vod’s_ eyes widened just before he fell down, down into the ocean. From then on, Cody never liked larger bodies of water, no matter how calm or clear it was. From then on, Cody changed, for better or for worse. He supposed he became more protective, even _possessive_ , after it. Obsessed with keeping those he loved safe.

Rex. His brother Rex, with his antics and sparkling eyes, who was somehow the most mature out of all of them. But to Cody, Rex was always going to be the kid who’d blurted _you’re Cody, right?_ with awe in his eyes. Rex, who would lay down his life, easily, for anyone. Rex, who he’d punched for even _thinking_ about blaming his Jedi, his Obi-Wan, for what happened. Rex, who’d apologised with tears in his eyes. Rex, his brother until the end.

He remembered Boil and Waxer, their two best troopers. Waxer, with his soft heart and a love of kids, always ended up adopting some homeless child. Boil, always following his best friend with a roll of his eyes and a soft smile. Painless, all sharp words and razor sharp smiles to hide his too-soft heart as Threk trailed behind him, cradling his ever-present frog. Longshot, Gregor, Wooley, all of the 212, then his brothers in the 501st - Hardcase, Fives, Echo, Kix, Jesse, _gods,_ all of them, his _brothers_ and he loved them all.

And then, he remembered Obi-Wan, _(ner’jetii)_ , his eyes always changing colour in accordance with the light, going from deep blue to cyan, from bright green to gunmetal grey, an ever changing sea - but one he loved, even if he was scared of it at first. He remembered the crow’s feet forming at the corners of Obi-Wan’s eyes when he laughed. The way his hair was ridiculously ginger and messy despite careful styling, before it became a weathered gold, glinting in the Tatooine sun, then slowly turned white. Obi-Wan, who’d been trembling like a leaf when Cody had said _I love you_ for the first time. Obi-Wan, who wasn’t afraid to hold him close. Obi-Wan, who brought out _all_ of Cody - the wild, untamed protector and the soft lover, both. 

But really, it didn’t matter who he _was_ \- it was his actions that made him, shaped him, defined him. His actions were greater than he was.

And the greatest thing he’d ever done, the catalyst of the greatest things he’d done - was _loving_.

He sighed, Obi-Wan’s gentle scent soothing him, his _cyare’s_ soft hair brushing against his jaw. Obi-Wan mumbled something sleepily, settling closer to him. Cody brushed his Jedi’s hair back, attempting to get that one stubborn curl off of his forehead and chuckling when it fell back into place. He let his fingertips trace the contours of that beloved face, feeling sharp bone and weathered skin, eyelashes and faint stubble tickling his hand. He pressed a kiss to Obi-Wan’s temple, and smiled.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading! please leave kudos and comments, they really help me keep writing and I love to hear from y'all. Hope you guys are doing well! :)
> 
> Come yell at me or just chat about stuff [here](https://thedisasternerd.tumblr.com). 
> 
> verd’ika - private (rank), or little soldier, often used as a term of affection towards a child  
> vod - brother  
> ad'ika - little child  
> vod'e - brothers  
> verd(e) - soldier(s)  
> elek - yes  
> gedet'ye - please  
> cyare - beloved  
> ner'jetii - my Jedi  
> buir - parent  
> ad - son/daughter/child  
> Ni kar'tayli gar darasuum (balyc) - I love you forever (as well)  
> riduur - spouse
> 
> quote at the start from Ride by Twenty One Pilots. I found it fitting.


End file.
